Virtual Warfare
by PhoenixReign
Summary: After almost losing her brother, Katrina decided to put her emotions aside and help Ulrich and his friends defeat Xana. What happens when Xana gets stronger? Will Katrina crack or will she be the key to saving the world?
1. Chapter 1

Months had passed by since Katrina's first time back on Lyoko. As much as she hated being here, she valued her brother's life over her own feelings. Xana could have bugged Ulrich as a trap for Katrina, however they were lucky that wasn't the case. Katrina was now living on her own just two blocks away from the college she's currently attending. She passed all of her online classes with straight A's last semester so as promised, her parents let her go back to attend physical classes. She was happy to finally be on campus again after several years stuck on a virtual world and a few months after at home with her parents. She liked living on her own. It was close to both her parents and the college campus. The apartment also happened to be a few blocks away from the factory which is convenient if Xana ever launches an attack or they need her on Lyoko. She hadn't been on Lyoko since rescuing Ulrich. To be fair, it had been fairly quiet, and she told Ulrich to only contact her if it's an emergency. While it was quiet, they took the opportunity to destroy as many of the replicas as they could. So far only one was destroyed. Katrina had just gotten back from her classes. She tossed her bag onto the couch before going into the kitchen making herself a cup of hot tea. This had become a routine with her. While she waited for the water to boil, there was a knock at her door. She cocked an eyebrow not expecting any company. She opened the door and was greeted by Yumi.

"Oh Yumi…. how did you know where I live?" Katrina questioned. The only people that knew where her apartment were her parents.

"Ulrich told me. I hope it's okay that I dropped by" She responded. Katrina should have expected one of her parents to tell him. She let Yumi enter the apartment.

"So what's up? What are you doing here?" Katrina asked.

"It's been a while so I thought you could use an update on what's been going on since the last time you stepped foot on Lyoko. Your apartment is actually not that far from my house, so I figured I'd stop by" She told her.

"Oh okay. I was in the middle of making tea. Do you want some?" Katrina offered.

"No thanks, I'm good" Yumi responded. Katrina went back into the kitchen after she heard the whistle of the kettle. She placed a tea bag into a mug before pouring in the water. Afterwards she went into the living room where Yumi was.

"So if I remember correctly, Jeremie mentioned that Xana is gaining power from the replicas of Lyoko and that these replicas have to be destroyed in order to weaken Xana. The last time I spoke to Ulrich, he said that you guys only destroyed one replica so far" Katrina mentioned. Yumi nodded her head.

"There's a lot more than that now. Xana is also receiving energy from different super computers that are inside other factories linked to those replicas" Yumi explained. Katrina processed the information for a moment before an idea came to mind. It would make complete sense if that was the case, but she knew for a fact that there was only one Xana, and it was created in the same supercomputer that Jeremie was using. Unless, Xana was able to replicate himself as well, which would be a big problem.

"You wouldn't happen to know if Jeremie is at the factory right, now would you?" Katrina questioned after coming to that realization.

"No, why?" Yumi asked in response.

"I think there's a bigger picture to all of this" Katrina stated. "Come on, let's go to the factory. Text Jeremie, have him meet us there" She then told her. Katrina grabbed her phone before running out the door with Yumi following behind. They eventually made it to the factory and down to the supercomputer room. Jeremie was there sitting at the computer. He turned his attention to the elevator when he heard the doors open although he was relieved to see it was just Yumi and Katrina.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked them.

"Get out of the chair" Katrina ordered without explanation as she walked over to him.

"What? Why?" He questioned in response.

"Just get out of the chair" She stated not answering his question. If she was as scary as Ulrich described when she's angry then it would be smart to listen to her. He got out of the chair as Katrina took his spot. She typed something onto the computer which caused multiple windows to pop up on the screen.

"Yumi do you have any idea what's going on?" Jeremie asked her in a whisper.

"Not a clue" Yumi whispered back. Katrina was focused on the screen in front of her. She was going on a hunch, but if she was right, then that would mean that they were now one step ahead of Xana.

"Are you going to tell us what you're doing Katrina?" Yumi asked.

"I have a theory" Was all Katrina said.

"And that theory would be?" Jeremie questioned.

"There's a possibility that we're not dealing with just one Xana anymore, but multiple Xana's" Katrina stated. Jeremie and Yumi cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "The original Xana is inside this supercomputer which means that it only has access to the Lyoko that's programmed onto the same supercomputer." She explained.

"So that would mean that each replica would have its own Xana" Jeremie stated now coming to the same conclusion as Katrina.

"So when we destroy a Lyoko replica, would that mean we're also destroying a Xana replica?" Yumi questioned. Katrina nodded her head.

"Exactly" She commented with a smirk. Katrina eventually found the data she was looking for that would confirm her theory and confirm her theory it did. There was evidence of Xana on each replica of Lyoko.


	2. Chapter 2

The group was sitting in the cafeteria eating their lunch. The only one who wasn't present was Katrina since she was in college attending her classes. It was the next morning after Katrina had paid Jeremie a visit in the factory.

"So thanks to Katrina, we now have a breakthrough in our mission to stop Xana." Jeremie announced.

"When did you talk to Nina? I tried calling her last night, but I couldn't get a hold of her. Was she on Lyoko?" Ulrich asked. Jeremie shook her head.

"I went to see Katrina last night after you gave me her address. I was updating her on what we discovered since the last time she was on Lyoko. While we were talking, she came up with this theory that Xana isn't absorbing energy from the Lyoko replicas, but each replica has their own Xana" Yumi explained.

"She says that the original Xana is connected to the supercomputer in the factory and he only has access to the Lyoko that's connected to the same supercomputer" Jeremie further explained.

"So there's basically a Xana army?" Odd questioned with his mouth full of food.

"Pretty much" Jeremie responded.

"So we're not just dealing with one Xana anymore is what you're saying?" Ulrich questioned.

"It's possible that it's still one Xana and the others are just copies" Aelita suggested.

"That's true, I don't think Katrina even thought of that" Jeremie noted.

"Well, she was there when Lyoko was created so maybe she could have access to the information that would confirm her theory" Ulrich mentioned.

"She did somewhat confirm her theory last night when she came to the factory. She went onto the supercomputer and did a scan of all the replicas. Each one had Xana code attached to them." Jeremie stated.

"Okay, I have a new theory, I know I said before they could be clones, but what if they're really fragments of the same being?" Aelita questioned. It was an interesting theory which made Jeremie think.

"It's possible. I can contact Katrina later after school and see what she thinks" Jeremie commented.

"I think she has a pencak silat training after her classes, so I doubt she'll respond" Ulrich mentioned.

"I thought she stopped training?" Aelita questioned.

"She did for a while, but she picked it back up recently" Ulrich noted. Aelita nodded her head in understandment. Meanwhile, Katrina had gotten out of her classes for the day. She lucked out with her last class being cancelled due to her professor having a personal emergency. She went back to her apartment throwing her bag on to the couch before walking into her room. She went into her closet, pulling out a box that she kept on the top shelf. It was filled with research material that Franz Hopper used to create Lyoko. Her jump as an intern was to organize the information which is why she had it. They were mostly notebooks filled with notes that Franz Hopper had her take while coded the virtual world. She even had CDs which contained video files of Franz Hopper vlogging himself in case anything was to happen. She brought the stuff into her living room before grabbing her laptop off the kitchen counter. She looked up at the clock for a brief moment.

"I got 2 and a half hours before I have to be at the dojo so hopefully that will be enough time to fully prove my theory" She mumbled as she inserted one of the discs into her laptop. While she was doing this, the others were at the factory. They were gathered around Jeremie at the supercomputer.

"So let's say all these theories are true. Would destroying the replicas effect Xana at all?" Ulrich questioned.

"It would probably make him weaker, but to destroy the replicas, would need to access their supercomputers "Jeremie stated.

"Katrina mentioned that there's only one Lyoko per supercomputer. If that's true, then how are we able to access the other replicas from this supercomputer?" Yumi inquired.

"That's because the digital sea is what connects all the supercomputers" Jeremie responded.

"So what's the plan Einstein?" Odd asked.

"We'll go to each replica, gather as much data as we can and then destroy their supercomputers" Jeremie replied.

"Sweet! I love destroying stuff!" Odd cheered.

"So we've noticed" Yumi commented with a smirk causing the others to laugh.

"Should we let Katrina know what the plan is?" Aelita asked Jeremie.

"That's probably a good idea" Jeremie said as he dialed her number on the computer. Katrina picked up within two rings.

"What's up?" She greeted.

"I thought you had training today?" Ulrich questioned surprised that his sister picked up the phone.

"Yeah, but later. I got out of school early, so I have time to kill" She responded.

"Well, since you have time. Can you come down to the factory?" He requested.

"It's funny you should say that" She replied. They heard the gears of the elevator causing them to turn around. The doors opened revealing Katrina on the inside of the elevator. "I'm already here" She said as she hung up her phone. She stuffed it in her pocket as she walked into the room. She took off her backpack which had her laptop in it. "Do you mind?" She asked wanting to trade with Jeremie. He got up letting Katrina take his place. She pulled out her laptop and a cable connecting it to the supercomputer.

"So I realized last night that I still had some research material from when I worked as Franz Hopper's intern, so I did a little research of my own. Turns out that I was somewhat right. The replica's carry the same exact code as the original which means it's the same Xana but just copies. It's possible that the original Xana is pulling energy from his copies in order to get stronger" She explained as she transferred the data from her laptop to the supercomputer.

"Looks like you were right Aelita" Yumi commented.

"We came to the conclusion of destroying the replicas which as a result should weaken Xana" Jeremie told Katrina. She shook her head in response.

"Destroying the replica alone won't weaken Xana. You would have to find the supercomputer linked to that replica and bug it, corrupting the code this way Xana can't make another copy of himself" She told him.

"So basically we have to destroy the supercomputer before destroying the replica?" Ulrich questioned.

"Like I said before. Destroying something alone isn't enough" Katrina stated.

"So tomorrow you guys can go on Lyoko for a mission" Jeremie announced.

"I'd help out, but I got classes all day tomorrow" Katrina chimed. "Although fill free to update me on the situation" She then said. She unplugged her laptop from the supercomputer before hopping out of the chair. "I'm gonna go get ready for the dojo. Ulrich I'll be home around 9 o'clock if you want to talk later" She said to her brother as she headed to the elevator.

"Can I come with you?" He asked.

"No, not tonight" She replied stepping into the elevator with the doors closing in between them.


	3. Chapter 3

With a plan in place, it was time for execution. The gang was virtualized onto Lyoko with the exception of Katrina who was currently attending classes. She told Jeremie to only contact her if it was an emergency. So far, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Jeremie was able to virtualize them right into Sector Five eliminating the need for the transporter. They made their way through the corridor into the big room that held the key. Once they entered, the timer appeared on Jeremie's screen counting down the time they had left to get to the key. To their surprise, there were no creepers waiting for them. Everything seemed quiet, too quiet in fact. Jeremie warned them to keep their guard up since he wasn't sure what was going on either. There was a possible chance that Xana was up to something. Odd, being the free spirit he was went straight for the key without any caution. Ulrich and Yumi agreed that he would be the first one to be devirtualized. Odd made it a quarter way across the moving platforms when he was shot it. Luckily for him, it barely missed him. Yumi found the culprit throwing one of her fans at it. She missed as well however; she used her telekinesis to guide the fan back to the creeper destroying it.

"Nice one Yumi" Ulrich praised. Odd finally made it across slamming his hand onto the key deactivating the countdown. A passageway opened up allowing the warriors access to the rest of Sector Five. They hopped onto the elevator which took them to the room where the sub was docked. Jeremie teleported each one of them into the sub. Aelita detached the sub from the hub and embarked on a trip to one of the replicas. A few minutes after diving into the digital sea, the sea started turning red signaling the presence of kongres. Aelita dispatched everyone to take care of them. After all of the kongres are gone, everyone was reattached to the main sub. They eventually arrived at the entrance to one of the replicas. Aelita inserted the key granting the access. The sub emerged from the digital sea docking the sub at the tower Jeremie activated for them. Ulrich and Yumi were transported to Earth in the factory that the replica was connected to. Odd and Aelita stayed inside the sub. Things seemed to be calm on Ulrich and Yumi's end with no monster's in sight. After scoping the area, the two headed inside figuring the coast was clear.

"So how did Katrina do in her tournament?" Yumi asked.

"She didn't win, but she was a finalist" Ulrich replied.

"That's good, I'm surprised she competed so soon" Yumi commented.

"Yeah, my parents were skeptical about the idea, but she was committed" Ulrich noted.

"So in other words she's stubborn?" Yumi questioned.

"Pretty much" He responded.

"I think that's how you and your sister are alike. You're both stubborn" Yumi teased with a smirk.

"Hey! I'm not stubborn!" Ulrich remarked. Before the two started arguing, a group of kankrelats were energized in the factory.

"Jeremie, we got company" Yumi announced.

"Odd and Aelita got company too. Xana must've realized what we're up to" Jeremie stated in response.

"Should we call Katrina just in case?" Yumi asked turning her head to Ulrich.

"She's in class and she told Jeremie not to contact her during class unless it was an absolute emergency" Ulrich told her.

"You guys should be fine. No one lost any life points yet, so I don't see the need to disturb her right now" Jeremie stated. Ulrich and Yumi took out the kankrelats that were in front of them continuing on into the factory. So far it looks like a normal factory. Jeremie managed to find a map of the factory guiding Yumi and Ulrich to the location of the supercomputer. It wasn't as easy as it sounded. One of the doors was locked. Therefore, Jeremie had to hack into the system from his end to unlock it. While they were waiting on Jeremie, more monsters appeared. They were outnumbered, but it was manageable for the two of them. Ulrich took out his share while Yumi took out hers. Yumi got hit by one in the process, but only took ten points of damage, which was nothing. More showed up much to their dismay. Jeremie was able to unlock the door. Ulrich and Yumi passed through the door. Ulrich slammed his fist onto the button on his side shutting the door separating the two from the monsters for now.

"I hope Odd and Aelita are doing better than us" Yumi commented.

"Guys we have a problem. William showed up on the replica" Jeremie announced.

"I guess not" Ulrich responded to Yumi's comment. "One of us is probably going to have to go back there" He then stated.

"Not yet, you two get to the supercomputer as fast as you can" Jeremie instructed. Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement. They continued on to the room where the supercomputer was located. Odd and Aelita were barely holding up now that William was on the replica. Odd needed to protect Aelita just like the old days because she was the only one that knew how to pilot the sub. Watching from the screen, Jeremie debated on whether he should call Katrina or just accept defeat. From the looks of it, Ulrich and Yumi had more footage to go before they reached the supercomputer. Maybe one of them was going to have to be transported back to the replica to help Odd and Aelita. However, if they did that, then one of them would be in the factory alone. Right now they were in a lose-lose situation. The only option he had now was to pull Ulrich and Yumi from the factory and take care of William. At least, that's what he thought was his only option. He remembered his wild card. He dialed her number hoping she would pick up quickly. Much to his relief, she does.

"Hello?"

"We need you" Was all Jeremie said.

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**A/N: Just a heads up, the next chapter will be delayed until March 17****th**


	4. Chapter 4

Katrina left campus making her way to the factory. Luckily, Jeremie had contacted her at the end of her last class. She arrived at the factory swinging down to the elevator from the rope. She slammed her fist onto the button which closed the doors. The elevator descended down to the supercomputer room.

"What's going on?" Katrina asked Jeremie as she got out of the elevator.

"No time to explain. Odd and Aelita need you" Jeremie responded not taking his attention off of the screen. Katrina nodded her head getting back into the elevator heading down to the scanner room. She got into one of the scanners and Jeremie virtualized her right onto the Lyoko replica. She saw Odd being attacked by William and pulled out one of her laser pistols aiming it at William. She fired several rounds at him with each one hitting William in the back. Now, his attention was turned to Katrina.

"Aww is someone not happy that they're getting their butt kicked by a girl?" She teased after seeing the menacing glare on his face. William ran to Katrina with his buster sword in his hand. Katrina put her pistol back in its holster and pulled out her backup weapon which was a laser saber using it to fight off William. Their weapons clashed without either person taking a single hit from either blade. Odd took this opportunity and took a shot at William while Katrina had him distracted. Because of the damage William took from Katrina's laser pistol, the last shot from Odd took him out.

"Nice job you two" Jeremie praised. Both Odd and Aelita approached Katrina.

"Katrina, I'm convinced you're a goddess" Odd commented with a smirk. Katrina rolled her eyes in response. Ulrich wasn't kidding when he said his roommate was a flirt.

"Your timing was amazing" Aelita told her thankful that she showed up when she did.

"Thank Jeremie. He's the one that called me" She told her. Katrina looked around and noticed Yumi and Ulrich were missing. "Where's the other two?" She then asked.

"They're taking care of the supercomputer" Aelita responded.

"Are they okay? Are they going to need backup?" Katrina inquired.

"They're fine. They're almost at the supercomputer" Jeremie assured her while at the same time guiding Yumi and Ulrich through the factory.

"Jeremie, how are Odd and Aelita holding up?" Yumi asked as she and Ulrich made their way through the factory being chased by **kankrelats**.

"Katrina showed up and helped Odd take care of William" He responded. Both Yumi and Ulrich breathed a sigh of relief.

"It must have been bad if Jeremie had to call my sister" Ulrich commented.

"Your sister is amazing. I didn't think she would actually show up" Yumi commented.

"Jeremie must have contacted her when she got out of class or she wouldn't have showed up" He told her.

"Even if we were in trouble?" She questioned. Ulrich simply shrugged his shoulders not actually knowing the answer. Although he liked to believe that Katrina would drop what he was doing to rescue the group especially her own brother. They finally made it to the supercomputer room. Jeremie opened the door for them and Yumi shut it after the both of them passed through separating them from the monsters. Ulrich pulled out both swords slashing away at the supercomputer. Sparks flew from the computer with each swing of his sabers. Eventually the computer stopped working. Jeremie brought the two back onto the Lyoko replica after successfully destroying the supercomputer. They were teleported back into the sub still docked at the tower activated by Jeremie. The replica started disappearing which meant the group had to leave the replica quickly before they disappeared along with it. Aelita detached the sub from the tower diving back into the digital sea. This was Katrina's first time inside the sub and seeing the digital sea from this perspective.

"Wow, is it weird that this is exactly how I imagined the digital sea would look like?" She questioned.

"No, I thought the same thing" Yumi stated.

"Five years and yet this is the first time I've ever been in the sea. Which I guess is a good thing or I would've disappeared forever" She joked with a slight giggle.

"Don't joke about that" Ulrich scolded. He didn't want to imagine what it would be like not having his sister around. He was miserable in the five years she was trapped here in this virtual world.

"Ulrich you're so uptight" Odd teased.

"Shut up Odd! If it was one of your sisters, you would understand" Ulrich told him.

"I'm not close with any of my sisters so it wouldn't bother me" He said.

"I regret making that joke now" Katrina mumbled to herself. She knew it was a sensitive subject even though months had passed since she was materialized back onto Earth. "Can you two not argue while were inside the sub?" She requested.

"Anything for a goddess" Odd teased.

"Odd!" Ulrich shouted.

"Ulrich!" Katrina shouted. "Just drop it already" She said annoyed with her younger brother.

"Ha! Your sister likes me more" Odd continued to tease. Katrina rolled her eyes. She chose to ignore him for now. After returning to Sector Five, Aelita docked the sub in its hub. Jeremie teleported everyone out.

"Well that's one replica down" Yumi commented.

"Many more to go" Katrina chimed.

"How many more are there?" Ulrich asked. Katrina shrugged her shoulders.

"One of the replica's was created by Hopper as a backup in case the government decided to shut down his project. It's on a different computer in a secret facility that even I don't know the location of" She mentioned.

"You wouldn't happen to have any data on my father's replica, would you?" Aelita asked.

"There might be something on the CDs he made, but there's definitely nothing on the computer in the factory" She responded. "I don't have class again until next week so I can go over the CDs and see if I find anything"

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**A/N: Sorry for the delay. Chapter 5 should be out on Friday as planned **


	5. Chapter 5

As Katrina promised, she spent her time off from school going over the data that Franz Hopper saved onto multiple CDs. So far, she had gone through five CDs and hasn't come across any relevant information. The only thing she found was more information on the second supercomputer that she researched last night after getting home. Then it hit her. She snapped her fingers getting up from her desk digging through the box on her bed of all of the research material she had brought home from her internship. Buried on the bottom was a back journal with the contents inside written in code. She pulled her phone out of her pocket dialing Jeremie's number.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey, are you busy right now?" She asked.

"No, we just got out of class. Why? Did you find something?" He inquired in response.

"Maybe, I'm not sure. Can you and Aelita meet me at the factory? I want to show you two something" She requested.

"Sure, we're on our way" He told her before hanging up. Katrina grabbed her bag placing the book inside before grabbing her keys heading out of the door. She made it to the factory after a sprint through the park sliding down the rope to the elevator taking it down to the supercomputer room where Jeremie and Aelita were waiting for her. "So what do you got?" He asked upon her arrival. Katrina opened her bag digging through then pulling out the journal.

"Franz Hopper's actual diary" She stated. "He wrote it in code in case it ever got into the wrong hands" She then mentioned.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to decode it, would you?" Aelita asked. Katrina shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Probably, I haven't tried yet. To be honest, I haven't actually looked inside this journal yet. I always remembered this being in the pocket of Hopper's lab coat" She told them.

"So anything about Lyoko, Xana, and the replicas would be in that book?" Jeremie suggested.

"It's a possibility, Hopper was always taking notes and recording film diaries whenever there was something worth documenting" She replied.

"You mentioned yesterday that my father had access to another supercomputer with his own copy of Lyoko. Would the details of that be in there too?" Aelita questioned.

"Oh yeah speaking that. I managed to find the location of said supercomputer. It's located on a military base in Switzerland" She announced.

"How did you find that out?" Jeremie asked.

"I did some research" She answered. Katrina's phone started ringing. She looked at the screen and saw her brother's number. She groaned before answering the call.

"What do you want Ulrich?" She asked the second she answered the call.

"Since you don't have class coming up can we go to the dojo this weekend?" He asked her.

"Did you pass your math test?" She questioned in response. Ulrich was silent for a moment. "The silence tells me that you didn't" She then commented.

"I only failed by one point" He defended.

"You know the rules Ulrich, I don't want Dad yelling at me for taking you out on the weekends when you're failing your classes" She told him before hanging up. She rolled her eyes before sticking her phone back into her pocket. "He never learns" She mumbled.

"Anyways, do you think it's possible to gain access to the supercomputer in Switzerland?" Jeremie asked.

"It depends on the Swiss army. You have to keep in mind that it's located on a military base, so security is going to be tight" She replied.

"Well is there a way to access it through Lyoko?" Aelita questioned as a suggestion.

"I would assume so since you were able to gain access to a factory that contained the supercomputer attached to the replica that was destroyed yesterday" She answered.

"Well now we know what our next mission is" Jeremie stated.

"And what exactly would that be?" Katrina asked as she folded her arms across her chest looking at Jeremie with a raise eyebrow.

"We're going to go to Switzerland. Find the supercomputer and download the data" He explained.

"My brother is right. You are insane. What are you going to do if you get caught?" Katrina questioned. It was risky going after Hoppers other supercomputer knowing it was locked away on a military base. If they were caught sneaking onto the base, they could all be in trouble with the Swiss government.

"Katrina's right Jeremie. What will we do?" Aelita chimed not sure if this was a good idea realizing what was at stake.

"Relax, we won't get caught. The base is probably abandoned anyways" He responded.

"Uh no it's not. In fact, it's highly active. I did my research remember?" Katrina noted.

"Either way, we'll be fine" Jeremie commented.

"Well I'm not taking that risk, and neither is Ulrich. My Dad already questions who he's friends with and I don't need you giving him reasons to keep questioning it" She told him.

"But we need you and Ulrich" Jeremie stated.

"No offense Jeremie, but I would like to stay out of trouble with any government whether it be French or Swiss" She noted. She handed Aelita the journal before getting into the Elevator and leaving the factory. Katrina decided to call her brother back to warn him about what Jeremie was up to.

"What's up Nina?" Ulrich answered.

"Ulrich, if you go to Lyoko you are to stay on Lyoko. No teleporting to Earth" She told him not explaining why she was demanding this.

"Why? What's going on?" He asked in response.

"You're right, your friend Jeremie is insane. He wants to break into a military base in Switzerland to access the secret supercomputer located there" She explained.

"How would he even do that? Aren't those facilities highly secure?" He questioned.

"Exactly. If you guys get caught in an unauthorized area, you could get into big trouble with the government" She told him.

"Yeah, that's one lecture from Dad that I don't need" He commented.

"Which is why you won't go there. As your older sister I forbid it and if you want your pencak silat lessons at the dojo, you will do as I say" She ordered.

"Yes Ma'am" Ulrich responded.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Sorry for the delay but quick update before you read the chapter! Chapter uploads will be moving to every __**OTHER**__ Saturday until the end of April! __**THERE WILL BE NO CHAPTER NEXT WEEK!**_

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From that point, Katrina had refused to cooperate with Jeremie knowing his plan could get him and the others in trouble. She also had banned Ulrich from being teleported to Earth while on Lyoko. Jeremie informed Odd and Yumi of his plan. Odd was all for it not really caring about the consequences. Yumi on the other hand was quite skeptical. However, she still chose to get involved. Ulrich's involvement was limited because if his sister, but he wanted to help as much as possible.

"It's not like she'll know" Odd commented trying to reassure his roommate.

"Do you not know my sister? I can't lie to her. If she finds out I disobeyed her, she'll kill me" Ulrich stated.

"You're overreacting Ulrich buddy" Odd said as he wrapped his arm around Ulrich's shoulder. "Your sister may be a tough, but I doubt she'll kill her favorite brother" He pointed out.

"I'm her only brother" Ulrich noted.

"Exactly!" Odd said causing Ulrich to roll his eyes.

"You can't blame Katrina though. What we're doing is kind of risky" Yumi chimed.

"I agree with Yumi" Aelita stated.

"Come on guys, what if this is our only chance of stopping Xana?" Jeremie questioned trying to reason with everyone.

"You don't know that for sure Jeremie" Aelita noted.

"Well we can't ask Katrina. She doesn't want to be involved at all" Jeremie stated.

"She only doesn't want to be involved if we try to enter the military base in Switzerland" Ulrich clarified.

"But we need to access the data that's on that computer" Jeremie noted. Meanwhile, on a college campus not too far from the factory was Katrina hanging out in the courtyard with her friends. Because of the whole situation that was going on with Xana and Lyoko, Katrina rarely got to spend time with her friends.

"So Trina, what's been going on with you lately? You never hang around after classes get out" Her one friend questioned.

"Well my little brother goes to the grade school nearby so whenever I have free time, I go see him" She responded. It was the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth. She couldn't tell them the whole truth.

"So you must be really close with your brother then to do that" They commented. Katrina nodded her head. There was more to it than that. It's not like she could tell them that she's only doing it to make up for lost time. That being trapped on a virtual world made her feel like a horrible sister and she felt like she needed to see him whenever she can as a way of redeeming herself. She forced herself to love pencak silat again because she knew her brother loved it because of the time they got to spend together. She lied to Ulrich, which she hated doing, but she knew telling him the truth would break his heart. She couldn't even mildly joke about being trapped on Lyoko without him getting upset about it.

"Well a bunch of us are going to the music festival that's this weekend. Are you going to join us Trina?" They asked. Katrina thought about it for a moment. Part of her should stay close by in case her brother and his friends needed her. However, she knew of Jeremie's plan and wanted to keep her distance to avoid getting in any trouble herself. She ended up agreeing to attending the music festival hoping Ulrich and his friends would be okay without her for the weekend. Her friends were excited that they were all finally able to spend time with each other for once. Katrina said goodbye to her friends heading back to her apartment. She saw Yumi walking with Hiroki just a few blocks away. It reminded her of the time she used to pick up Ulrich when he was in elementary school. She smiled watching the two from afar. She turned down her block only small steps from her apartment building. Normally she would drive to campus, but it wasn't that far from where she lived, plus it was a nice day out, so she walked instead. After finally getting home, she threw her back onto the couch heading into the kitchen to boil a kettle of water for her tea. This because a routine for her. Katrina claimed that having a hot cup of tea when she was stressed would calm her down at the end of the day. When her tea was ready, she brought it into the Livingroom where she sat on the couch next to her bag watching TV. There wasn't anything interesting on. Most of the time it was just reruns of various commercials, but she'd rather watch those then do anything productive at the moment. Her phone buzzed in her bag, but she ignored it knowing it was Jeremie trying to convince her to help out. She could tell it was him by the ringtone. Everyone had their own ringtones this way she knew immediately who it was without actually having to look at the screen. Her phone continued to buzz causing her eyes to roll as she pulled it out of her bag silencing it in her hand. Just as she suspected, it was Jeremie. She was mad at him at the moment because he tried to drag everyone into a risky situation just to obtain data from a super secure supercomputer in Switzerland. Then she got another text message. This time it was from Ulrich.

"Jeremie keeps insisting that we do this mission." It read making Katrina's eyes roll again. She texted him back.

"Tell him that if he keeps pushing this that I will forbid you from even stepping onto Lyoko and I don't care what the risk is. I don't want you getting into trouble because your friend is insane" With that, she tossed her phone back onto the couch. She found it annoying how persistent Jeremie was being about this mission. She knew that this could only lead to trouble.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I apologize in advance that this is both late and short. I wasn't expecting to be even more busy even though my state is on lockdown and I'm stuck at home.**

Jeremie didn't know what to do. Katrina was the key to this mission, and she was refusing to cooperate now that there was a serious risk involved. She had even forbid Ulrich from getting involved which left Jeremie with half of his team. Yumi who was a bit skeptical on the plan said she would only participate if she stayed on Lyoko. Like Katrina, she didn't want to get in trouble with any foreign government. That left Odd and Aelita left to teleport to the military base in Switzerland. Aelita was skeptical about the plan as well, but she knew it had to be done if she wanted to destroy Xana and free her father.

It was a bright sunny day, so Katrina decided to take advantage of the nice weather to walk to campus. It wasn't far from her apartment, so it was perfect. Everything seemed peaceful to her as she was walking along the sidewalk whistling a Sub Digitals melody. Off in the distance behind her under the shadows of the corner were two tall built men dressed in black and white suits wearing sunglasses watched Katrina as she minded her own business walking to her campus. When she reached her campus the two men continued to watch her from afar. Katrina went about her day not realizing that she was being stalked. It was Wednesday so she only had two classes. She had a test in her last class, so it was an even shorter day since she isn't obligated to stay for the entire class period. She made her way to her first class which was in a building across campus on the third floor. She was followed all the way there. No one seemed to notice since no one said anything. They probably blended in as college professors with the way they were dressed. Katrina made it to the building getting into the elevator along going up to the third floor. The two guys that followed her decided to stay outside. Her class lasted a little more than an hour. Once class was over, she got up leaving the classroom heading to the cafe to get lunch before her next class. Yet again, she was being followed. Katrina ate her lunch with her friends before heading off to her second and final class. When she got to class, all she took out was a pencil since that's all she needed today. Her professor passed out the test and the room fell silent with the exception of the sound of pencils scribbling on paper. Katrina finished her test in half an hour. She gathered her things getting up from her desk walking up to her professor handing them the test before walking out. Katrina headed straight home. When she was about halfway home, that's when the men chose to attack. One of them grabbed her from behind cupping his hand over her mouth muffling her screams. Katrina panicked as she tried to fight back. She was able to kick the guy in the shin causing him to drop her. Using her pencak silat training she fought off the guys. She knocked one of the guys sunglasses revealing their eyes. Katrina was surprised to see their eyes weren't normal. They had the Lyoko symbol as their pupils. Katrina was able to successfully defeat the two men and quickly ran off to the safety of her apartment. She pulled her phone out of her pocket calling her brother.

"What's up Nina?" Ulrich greeted through the phone.

"What did Jeremie do?" She asked him without saying hello.

"Nothing. At least nothing I know of. Why?" He asked in response.

"He must've done something or there's an activated tower. I just got attacked by two specters dressed in suits looking like government officials" She told him.

"WHAT?! ARE YOU OKAY?" Ulrich inquired now worried.

"Yes I'm fine. I managed to get away and there's no need to yell. I'm not deaf you know" She replied as she rubbed her ear.

"What's going on?" Katrina could hear Odd ask on Ulrich's end in the distance.

"Trina was attacked by two specters" He told him.

"Specters?" Odd said confused. "Jeremie just did a scan and no towers were activated" He then stated.

"Well maybe there's a bug or it slipped under the radar somehow cause the two men that just attacked me were definitely specters" Katrina spoke to Odd even though he wasn't really talking to her.

"I'll call you back once we talk to Jeremie" Ulrich said before hanging up on his sister. Katrina sighed as she flopped down on her couch. Now she had to be more cautious than usual when leaving the house. If this is how things were going to be then she questioned if she should continue helping her brother and his friends with destroying Xana. A big part of her just wanted to simply shut down the supercomputer in the factory and be done with it.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I apologize for the late post and for another short chapter. Unfortunately I got backlogged with a lot of work and currently playing catch up. The next chapter will most likely be delayed as I currently don't have as much time as I normally do to sit and write. **

Later that day, Ulrich and Odd met up with the others in the cafe. Ulrich told them about what happened to Katrina earlier. Everyone at the table minus Odd were surprised and worried about Katrina.

"How is that even possible? There's no activated tower. Xana couldn't have launched an attack" Jeremie stated.

"She sounded pretty convinced that they were specters" Ulrich commented.

"Yeah, I don't think Trina would lie about something like that. I overheard her on the phone. She sounded scared" Odd chimed.

"Maybe it's possible that Xana did launch an attack and the scanner failed to pick it up" Aelita suggested.

"I think it's worth going to Lyoko and checking it out" Yumi stated.

"Alright then, after class we'll meet up at the factory." Jeremie said to everyone.

"Should one of us go keep Katrina company just in case she gets attacked again?" Odd questioned.

"Odd will you stop already. My sister is way out of your league and is five years older than you" Ulrich told him.

"I wasn't suggesting for me to go plus I know she doesn't like me. I meant for you to go. You and I both know you wanted to go the second she told you she was attacked" Odd noted. Ulrich knew he had a point. If it wasn't for the fact that they had class after lunch, he would've immediately left school to go find her. It was the first time she had been attacked since she was materialized back onto Earth. He wondered if she told their parents about what happened. He already knew how they would react. They would force her to drop out, move back in with them and resume online courses. Katrina would be mad with how many steps backwards she would be making after the amount of steps forward, she moved with her relationship with their parents. Ulrich nodded at Odd. After class while they were going to the factory, he was going to go find his sister.

After lunch, he, Odd, Aelita and Jeremie has Ms. Hertz class. Yumi was in her Italian class. Time felt like it was going by slowly during class. Ulrich anxiously stared at the clock waiting for the bell to eventually ring. Once it did, Ulrich rushed out of the room heading for the gates of the school. He made his way to his sister's apartment hoping she was still there. Just to be sure, he pulled his phone out dialing her number.

"Hello?" She greeted picking up after the second ring.

"Are you at your apartment?" He asked immediately.

"Yeah why?" She inquired in response.

"Good, I'll be right there" he said hanging up the phone. A few minutes later, Ulrich arrived knocking on her door. Katrina answered opening the door letting her brother in.

"So this is why you asked if I was home" She commented.

"The others went to Lyoko. Odd suggest I come here in case the specters come after you again" He told her.

"I'm capable of protecting myself you know" She said as she crossed her arms over her chest with a stern expression on her face.

"I know that, but you never know with Xana" He said in defense.

"…. yeah that's fair" She responded. Ulrich's phone rang.

"Yeah, Jeremie?" He answered immediately knowing who it is. "So Aelita was right" He then commented. Katrina couldn't hear what Jeremie was saying on the other end, so she looked at her brother confused as he talked to Jeremie on the phone. Ulrich hung up stuffing his phone back into his pocket. "Activated tower confirmed in Sector Five" he announced.

"How? There are no towers in the cortex" She commented.

"That's what they thought too. They seem to think that Xana created it"

"Well…that's not good"


	9. Chapter 9

Katrina and Ulrich remained at Katrina's apartment while the others went to Lyoko to deactivate the tower. She wondered if staying inside the apartment was a good idea or if she and Ulrich should leave and head for the factory. After speaking to Jeremie briefly on the phone, he suggested the two stay where they are convinced that the specters in black suits were most likely targeting Katrina.

"I hope this gets resolved soon. If mom and dad find out I'm being targeted by two strange men in black suits I can kiss my freedom goodbye" She commented. Normally Ulrich would think that his sister is just overacting, but this time she wasn't. He knew that if their parents found out that she was in any type of danger they would force her to move back home, pull her out of on-campus classes and make her continue her education online until she graduated. It didn't matter to them that Katrina was now more than capable of defending herself. Maybe if she hadn't been gone for several years' things would be different. She never forgave Franz Hopper for trapping her inside a virtual world for most of her teenage years causing her to miss out on important life events and she never intends to. In fact, part of her hated the scientist and even regrets the fact that she did an internship under him. "I knew I should have just worked in that pharmaceutical lab when I had the chance" She then complained with a groan as she buried her head into her hands sitting on the couch with her knees to her chest. Ulrich felt bad for his sister. She kind of had a point though. Had she chosen the pharmaceutical lab internship she would have never worked under Franz Hopper and would have never gotten stuck on Lyoko.

"Why did you choose interning under Hopper anyways?" He asked her.

"I didn't choose him specifically. I wanted to work in a government run lab because I thought it would look good on my resume when graduate college. They assigned me to Hopper's project as his assistant" She responded.

"More like lab rat" Ulrich muttered although it was just coherent enough for Katrina to understand him.

"Oh so now it's okay to joke about it?" She questioned slightly insulted. Every time she joked about her experience her little brother would just glare at her saying that there was nothing to joke about.

"I didn't mean it as a joke" He noted. Katrina rolled her eyes turning her head to look out the window. At the moment, there was nothing out there. No sign of the two specters anywhere. She looked away with a sigh of relief. Ulrich's phone rang again, and he picked it up immediately. Yet again, it was Jeremie on the other end. Ulrich seemed concerned so it couldn't be good. After he hung up, he looked at Katrina. "We have a problem, Yumi got devirtualized and Odd is one hit away from getting devirtualized too" He told her.

"Should we just risk the specters coming after us and head to the factory?" She questioned. It's not like they had much of a choice. The mission to deactivate the tower might fail if Aelita gets devirtualized.

"Jeremie says that you should stay here. I'll go to Lyoko" He said to her.

"No, we should both go. On the off chance that Aelita is devirtualized I should be there to deactivate the tower" She argued. She had a point and Ulrich knew it. The two left the apartment together constantly checking their surroundings making sure they were in the clear from the specters. So far, the coast was clear. They made a run for the factory hoping that they wouldn't get spotted by the specters. To their surprise, they made it to the factory without any encounters. The swung down the ropes into the elevator heading straight to the scanner room. Once the two were in their scanners, Jeremie virtualized them onto Lyoko right into Sector Five. They sprinted through the passageway into the big room where the button was, but lucky for them the countdown was already deactivated. They ran through the big room into another passageway that took them to the elevator hopping on going up to another room where Odd, Aelita, and possibly the tower was. They jumped off the elevator running into their supposed destination spotting both Odd and Aelita instantly. Odd tried to jump across the large blocks that were constantly moving up and down but missed one of the jumps. He hung onto the edge of the block with his claws digging into the side. He tried climbing up but found himself losing his grip. Katrina sprang into action when she saw Odd was about to fall again.

"You go back the Princess. I'll rescue the kitty" She said before taking off. Ulrich didn't say anything giving her a nod of acknowledgment before going after Aelita. Katrina turned on the magnification on her boots allowing her feet to cling to the surface as she hopped across to Odd. Just as Odd slipped off Katrina grabbed his hand.

"I always knew you were a goddess Trina" Odd commented with a smirk. Katrina rolled her eyes in response.

"I will let go if you don't stop" She warned him. Odd apologized as she helped him up onto the surface of the block. Right after that, a creeper shot Odd in the back devirtualizing him. "Wow, I'm so glad I went through the trouble of saving him" She said unamused. She turned her attention to Aelita and Ulrich who were making their way to the activated tower. Ulrich did his best to deflect the shots coming from the creepers that surrounded them with both his swords. Katrina pulled out her laser pistol shoot and a few of the creepers successfully hitting them. Aelita took a hit from one of the creepers.

"Aelita, you only have ten life points left!" Jeremie announced. That just meant if she took another hit, she would be devirtualized. Katrina jumped from platform to platform making her way over two with her shield up and shooting at the creepers along the way. Ulrich and Aelita made it to the tower, unfortunately, Aelita was hit again by a creeper devirtualizing her before she had the chance to enter the tower. "Well Katrina, I guess it's up to you now" Jeremie then commented. She wasn't surprised at all. Every time she came to Lyoko, she found herself being the one deactivating the towers.

"You guys are way too dependent on me" she muttered as she made her way to the tower. Luckily with her shield up, the creepers lasers wouldn't be able to touch her. She made it to the tower putting in the code deactivating it. After the tower was deactivated, Katrina and Ulrich were rematerialized back onto Earth with the group gathered around Jeremie at the supercomputer.

"It's interesting how Xana specters were only after Katrina. I thought for sure they would come to the factory and try to destroy the supercomputer like the other ones" Jeremie commented.

"Well you said when we first rematerialized Katrina that she has a special set of codes. What if Xana knows that and is after the codes?" Aelita questioned.

"Again, why didn't I do that pharmaceutical lab internship instead?" Katrina complained with a slight whine. Things got more complicated for Katrina now that she basically had to watch her back every time she stepped out of her apartment. Maybe she was better off staying with her parents getting her degree online after all.

* * *

**AN/: I somehow managed to bust out a decent sized chapter with the little free time I had this week. I'm aiming for the next chapter to come out by May 23****rd**** . **


	10. Chapter 10

Ever since the encounter with the specters, Katrina became more cautious of her surroundings when she was outside of her apartment. There were only a few weeks left in her classes, so she decided to continue commuting. She didn't tell anyone else other than Ulrich and his friends about what happened with fear of having her newly found freedom taken away from her again. It had been two days since the last attack and so far, everything seemed normal to her. Ulrich made her promise to contact him if anything felt out of the ordinary or if she felt like she was being followed. Katrina reluctantly agree to her younger brother's request making sure to keep her phone on her person. Katrina was at the point where she wanted to just simply shut down the supercomputer and just be done with this. However, it wasn't as simple as that. Especially when you have Jeremie who would rather put the world in endanger as he tries to destroy a virus that is harmless when the computer is turned off. At least, that's what she was told. Who knows how accurate the information she was given actually is? As she stepped outside of her apartment building, she saw the two men in black suits standing a few blocks away. Not wanting to take the risk, Katrina went back into her apartment skipping her one class for the day. She texted Ulrich about the siting and making sure to tell him that she was safe inside her apartment. Ulrich texted her back saying to stay inside her apartment and that he'll text Jeremie asking if there's an activated tower on Lyoko. Katrina sent a thumbs up emoji in response. Ulrich texted her back about ten minutes later saying that Jeremie said there's no activated tower. Katrina thought it was weird cause she definitely saw the two specters outside. She glanced out the window wondering if she could see them from where she was. Low and behold, they were standing outside of her apartment building. She called Ulrich knowing he was out of class now.

"What's up?" He answered on the other end.

"Are you sure there's no activated tower?" She questioned.

"That's what Jeremie said. He and Aelita went to the factory to double check just in case" He responded.

"Alright, keep me updated" She said before hanging up the phone letting out a frustrated sigh. 'Whelp guess I'm stuck inside today" She mumbled as she went to her room changing her clothes into something more comfortable. There was no need for her to be so dressed up if she wasn't or can't go anywhere. She grabbed her laptop out of her backpack figuring she might as well watch the lecture from home since she had nothing better to do. She grabbed some snacks from the kitchen before settling down on the couch with her snacks on the cushion next to her and her laptop sitting on her lap open up to the website where she can watch her lecture live. As much as she'd rather do something more fun, today's lecture was on a topic that she somewhat struggled with. Her phone rang. She picked up and Ulrich's name lit up on the screen.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Jeremie and Aelita are at the factory and there's no activated tower showing up in the scan" He informed her.

"How is that possible? Ulrich, I swear I saw the specters" She told him.

"I'm not saying we don't believe you Nina. I know you're not lying." He said in defense. "Me and the others are gonna go to Lyoko. We'll see if there's a tower that's not being picked up by the scanner. Maybe Xana learned a new trick"

"I guess that's a possibility" She commented.

"Do me a favor and stay inside. If Xana is up to something, it could be dangerous" He advised her.

"oh gee a dangerous situation involving Xana what a surprise" She said with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes.

"I get it. that was stupid of me to say. No need to be sarcastic Nina"

"Listen, if you were in my shoes, you would understand how frustrated I am. I honestly don't even care about defeating Xana anymore. I just want to be done with this"

"Okay, we're at the factory now. Jeremie said he'll call you with any updates"

"'kay" She said before hanging up the phone letting out a frustrated groan. Katrina felt truly defeated. She just wanted all of this to be over so she can return to living a normal life. The life she had before all of this happened. She looked out the window to see if the two guys in black suits were still out there. She couldn't see them from where she was, so she assumed they're either gone or just out of her field of vision. She wasn't sure if she should take the risk and leave her apartment or play it safe and stay inside like she was instructed to do. Then she thought about it; if she were to leave her house. There was a likelihood that the two men would follow her, thus putting her brother's friends in danger. Her phone rang pulling her from her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Katrina, you were right, we found an activated tower that was camouflaged in the scan" Jeremie said on the other end.

"I told you!" She exclaimed.

"It's not that we didn't believe you Katrina. We just thought it was unusual for those guys to appear and the scanner not picking up an activated tower" He defended.

"So basically what you're saying is there's no chance of us taking care of Xana and shutting down the supercomputer anytime soon is there?" She asked him

"I'm not sure, but I honestly doubt it" He responded. Katrina let out another frustrated sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair. It was just her luck that things managed to get more complicated.

**A/N: I'm sorry for not updating this story in over a month. I know I said I was taking a break, but I didn't expect to be gone longer than I had intended. If you're reading this, thank you for sticking with me. I have plans on finishing up this story by either end of June or at least within the first week of July. **


	11. Chapter 11

Katrina was still in her apartment while her brother and his friends were taking care of the activated tower. She sat on the couch watching television when she heard her doorbell ring. Her ears perked as she turned off the television getting off the couch walking over to the door looking through the peephole of her front door. Standing on the other side of the door were the two men in black suits. Katrina's eyes widened as she backed away from the door. How did they find out where she lived? They knocked on the door again. Katrina refused to answer the door not wanting to risk her safety. She picked up at her phone dialing Jeremie's number.

"What's wrong Katrina?" He answered the phone figuring something was wrong.

"Jeremie, we have a problem" She told him.

"What do you mean?"

"They're at my door"

"The specters?"

"No Jeremie, the pizza delivery guy. Of course the specters!"

"Alright, calm down. There's no need for sarcasm"

"Please tell me Aelita is close to the tower"

"Yeah about that…."

"Oh god don't tell me she got devirtualized" Katrina begged as she combed her fingers through her hair anxiously. They knocked on her door again which made Katrina feel more nervous. Maybe they weren't under Xana's control if they were knocking instead of breaking down her door like she would have expected them to do.

"No she's still on Lyoko. Although it seems like Xana was expecting us. He had monsters on standby" Jeremie informed her. "So far no one got devirtualized, but things are looking pretty grim"

"Not exactly the update I want to hear Jeremie"

"We're doing the best we can Trina. Xana just seems to always be one step ahead"

"of course he's one step ahead. He's an artificial intelligence!" Frustrated with how things were going, Katrina hung up on Jeremie. She heard another knock at the door. They must know she's home since they keep knocking. The men that stood at her door were different from the men that attacked her the last time. Although there was a chance that Xana could have easily possessed someone else. She decided to take the risk. If she was right and they were indeed specters; she knew enough pencak silat to defend herself. If she was wrong, then maybe it was her second hunch that the French government was after her for working with Hopper. Katrina took a deep breath before finally opening the door. There stood two men wearing black suits with sunglasses and communicators in their ears.

"Can I help you?" She asked them with a slightly confused look on her face.

"Are you Katrina Stern?" One of them asked.

"Yeah that's me. Why do you want to know?"

"We're with the government. We have a few questions to ask you" Katrina started to panic again. She wondered if Jeremie actually did hack into the supercomputer in Switzerland and the government somehow found out that she's involved? She let the two men into her apartment.

"What kind of questions? I don't know if I'll be of any use to you guys", she told them.

"We need you to tell us everything you know about Project Carthage"

"Project Carthage?" Katrina questioned in response. She had never heard of such thing before. "Sorry, I don't exactly know what you're talking about"

"Yes you do. You worked on the project along with Doctor Franz Hopper" They told her.

"Oh, I wasn't aware it was called 'Project Carthage' my apologies. However, that project was extremely classified and even I don't know much about it." She responded.

"Well tell us what you do know"

"All I remember was Hopper sitting in front of a computer most of the time. We weren't allowed to see what was on the screen so I can't exactly tell you what he was working on" She told them. It wasn't the truth, but she was trying her best to protect her brother and his friends.

"Are you sure?" They asked. They didn't exactly believe her despite how convincing she sounded. Katrina nodded her head.

"If I were to be honest. I don't really have any memories of Project Carthage. So whatever information you want from me, I won't be able to give you"

"We'll if you remember anything, please give us a call" One of them said as they handed her a business card with a name and phone number. After that, the two left Katrina's apartment. This had to be one of the strangest encounters she had. Part of her wanted to call Jeremie to tell him what happened. The other part of her wondered if she just imagined everything that just happened since it seemed so surreal. Then her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket looking at the screen to see Jeremie's number.

"What's up?" She said as she answered the phone.

"Tower has been successfully deactivated. Are the specters still around?" Jeremie asked.

"uhh" She debated on whether she should tell him that they weren't specters after all. "No they're gone" She ended up saying. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either.

'That's good. Let me know if anything else out of the ordinary happens. Xana might be up to something so I want to stay ahead of the game. The further ahead we are, the sooner we can defeat Xana and shut down the supercomputer"

"Right, don't worry. I'll keep my eyes peeled. Tell Ulrich that I'm okay please"

"I will, they're being devirtualized right now"

"Thanks, bye" She said hanging up the phone letting out a calming breath. She honestly hoped that this would be all over soon.

"This situation made me wish I took that pharmaceutical internship even more now" She mumbled.

Later on late at night, Katrina went to the factory knowing that no one was there. She brought one of her blank external hard drives with her. Just in case, she wanted to extract all the data off of the supercomputer onto the hard drive this way Ulrich and/or the others would end up part of the investigation. She didn't tell Jeremie she was doing this. It was a spur of the moment decision, so she'll have to tell him tomorrow morning figuring he was asleep now. When she was done, she disconnected the hard drive and cleaned off the computer incase the government decided they wanted to collect physical evidence. After that, she went back to her apartment. Hopefully there will be no more encounters with the government.


	12. Chapter 12

Katrina was getting ready for class in the morning pouring herself a small cup of coffee to drank while she would watch TV. She always made sure to wake up early enough, so she had time to relax and not rush out the door to class like she used to do when she was in college prior to the Lyoko incident. She flipped through channels eventually settling on the news channel like she did every morning since there was really nothing else to watch. The news was doing a field report and the background of this one seemed awfully familiar to her. She could see a group of cop cars in front of the abandoned factory she knew all too well. Seeing this made her feel worried yet relieved at the fact that she had gotten rid of any evidence the night before.

"I'm here at an abandoned factory which authorities have discovered a giant computer underground. They believe that it was used in a classified military project that was shut down six years ago after it had claimed the lives of several scientists within the project. Authorities have stated that the computer has absolutely no data on it and are currently securing the area to collect any evidence on any connections to the use of this factory." The female new anchor reported. Katrina pulled out her phone to call her brother even though she knew very well that he wasn't even awake. It took two rings before he finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Ulrich, we have a problem"

"What do you mean? Are the Men in Black after you again?"

"No it's worse than that"

"Worse? How?"

"I was just watching the news. The government knows about the supercomputer. Police have the factory completely blocked off"

"WHAT?!" Ulrich exclaimed as he jolted up in his bed causing Odd to wake up.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Katrina I'll have to call you back" Ulrich said into his phone before hanging up. "We have a huge problem. Nina says that the government found out about the supercomputer and have the factory completely blocked off" He told him.

"What are we gonna do if Xana attacks?" Odd questioned. Ulrich shrugged his shoulders in response. The two got dressed and headed to Jeremie's room to tell him the news. They didn't bother knocking on the door.

"Einstein, you awake?" Odd asked upon entering the room. Jeremie sat at his computer still in his pajamas.

"This is unbelievable" Jeremie said not paying any attention to the two boys that just walked in. Ulrich walked over placing his hand on Jeremie's shoulder.

"We got a big problem Einstein" Ulrich told him.

"Yeah I already know. I watched the news." He stated.

"What are we going to do?" Odd asked.

"I don't know. The supercomputer seems to have been wiped clean" Jeremie noted.

"Wiped clean? How?" Ulrich questioned.

"I'm not sure" Jeremie responded. Ulrich's phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket to see a text message from his sister.

"Nina says to meet her at her place, she wants to give us something" Ulrich announced.

"Maybe she found something that could help us finally take down Xana" Jeremie commented.

"I thought she gave us everything she had" Odd mentioned.

"Yeah I thought so too" Ulrich chimed. Later on after classes got out for the day, the Lyoko Warriors headed to Katrina's apartment. Yumi and Aelita joined the three boys. This would be the first time they were all together since the last Xana attack a few weeks ago.

"Oh I wasn't expecting everyone to come" Katrina said as she opened the door letting them in. "I figured it was just gonna be Ulrich and Jeremie"

"Well why not? We never get to see you unless Xana attacks" Odd commented.

"That's fair" She noted. "Anyways, I have something mostly for Jeremie" She then said as she grabbed the external hard drive from the dining room table and handing it to Jeremie.

"What's this?" Jeremie asked with a confused look on his face as he examined the item in his hand.

"I feel like as someone who spends a lot of time around computers, you should know what that is" Katrina said with a smirk. The others minus Jeremie chuckled in response.

"I know it's an external hard drive. I meant what's on it?" He clarified.

"All the data that was on the supercomputer" She replied.

"So you're the one that wiped out the supercomputer?" Aelita questioned. Katrina nodded her head.

"So the two Men in Black that paid me a visit the other day weren't specters. They were actually government officials asking about Project Carthage or what you guys know as Lyoko. I didn't even tell them anything that would give away the location of the supercomputer, so I don't know how they found it. As a precautionary I went to the factory after they left and downloaded the contents on that hard drive and wiped down everything so they wouldn't find any trace evidence linking you guys to the supercomputer" She explained.

"Ulrich you're sister rocks!" Odd exclaimed.

"I'm not finished yet Odd, don't get too excited" Katrina commented. "Because I want this all to be over as soon as possible I spent all night going through the data that was collected and managed to find some behavior patterns regarding how Xana functions and created separate data you can use to stop Xana"

"Katrina are you sure you're not a goddess?" Odd questioned.

"Odd!" Ulrich shouted scolding him with a glare.

"It'll be nice to finally get rid of Xana and go back to normal" Yumi commented.

"Yeah I agree. I won't have to worry about being stalked by specters every time I leave my apartment"

"Maybe we can sneak back into the factory and take care of Xana once and for all" Jeremie suggested.

"How are we going to do that? Isn't the factory surrounded by cops?" Aelita questioned.

"Well if you really want to do this tonight, I can arrange a distraction" Katrina offered.

"Why do I have a feeling I know exactly what you're referring to?" Ulrich questioned.

"Because it's exactly what or I should say whom you think I'm referring to" She responded.

"Who are you talking about?" Yumi inquired.

"One of Nina's friends that is basically the female version of Odd" Ulrich stated.

"I wouldn't say that, but I could see it" Katrina chimed.

"So what you're saying is she's really cool?" Odd questioned.

"Sure" Ulrich responded in a sarcastic tone. The others laughed while Odd huffed as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Katrina texted her friend telling her to meet her at the abandoned factory. Her friend didn't ask why but replied with a thumb's up emoji.

"Alright, she's gonna meet us there. Let's go" Katrina stated. They made their way to the abandoned factory. To their surprise, the group of cop cars from earlier in the day were gone leaving only one behind. Katrina's friend arrived shortly after.

"Hey Trina, what's up?" She greeted then spotted Ulrich. "Oh little Ulrich is here too." She said as she ruffled his hair.

"Stop that. I'm not little" He said brushing her hand off with his arm.

"I need you to distract the cops while we sneak into the factory" Katrina told her.

"Distracting people of authority is one of my many talents" she commented with a smirk. "Just leave it to me" She gave a salute before running off. Katrina waited until her friend lured the cops away before she started heading to the factory. Once the coast was clear, Katrina and the others made a run for it. They made it inside without getting caught. So far, there were no other cops inside. When they got to the supercomputer, Jeremie sat in the chair plugging in the external hard drive Katrina gave him earlier.

"So this program should be able to destroy Xana?" Aelita questioned.

"I hope so" Katrina said. Jeremie started up the program. Everyone with the exception of Jeremie joined hands in anticipation. They all watched as the program loaded on the screen. Katrina could feel the nervous sweat trickle down her forehead hoping that all her hard work would finally pay off. The program fully loaded, and it was a success. A smiled appeared on Katrina's face hopeful that this was finally all over. Jeremie scanned Lyoko to see if he could find any traces of Xana. His scan came up empty handed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They went downstairs to the power source of the supercomputer. Jeremie had his hand on the switch. He was about to pull it when Katrina stopped him.

"Wait a second" Katrina spoke. Everyone turned their heads looking at her. "I think me and Aelita should get the honor of turning off the supercomputer since we were the one's trapped on Lyoko" She then stated.

"That's fair" Jeremie responded. Katrina and Aelita stepped forward as Jeremie stepped away letting the two turn off the supercomputer together.

"On the count of three?" Aelita suggested. Katrina nodded her head.

"One…."

"Two…"

"Three!" They said as the pulled down the switch together powering down the supercomputer once and for all. This was it. The virtual war was over, and Katrina was got the freedom she desired.


	13. Update & Announcement

Hello everyone, I have somewhat returned from my 5-month hiatus. I apologize for being gone for so long. Life happened, and a lot of stuff got pushed back which forced me to take a break from updating certain projects. Unfortunately I won't be updating very often, but I would like you to know that there is now a book dedicated to the Code: Katrina trilogy one-shots as well deleted scenes from each book.

If you go to the book now, you can read a deleted draft scene of the first chapter of **Virtual Warfare. **


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